NEWBERG, Ore. ­– When a heart attack strikes, getting treatment fast means everything. The heart attack treatment at Providence Newberg Medical Center is among the fastest in the nation.

Providence Newberg just received a national award from the American Heart Association for heart attack patient care. PNMC was one of only eight referral centers in the country to earn the award.

Each year in the United States, nearly 300,000 people have severe heart attacks, in which a blood clot completely blocks an artery to the heart. To prevent death, it’s critical to immediately restore blood flow, either by surgically opening the blocked vessel or by giving clot-busting medication.

“This recognition shows our commitment in proving outstanding care for our cardiac patients,” says Russ Riggs, M.D., medical director, PNMC Emergency Department. “It’s taken a tremendous amount of teamwork from a variety of people in the hospital and I am very proud of our team.”

Hospitals involved in the AHA’s quality initiative are part of a national system that makes sure severe heart attack patients get the right care they need, as quickly as possible. The purpose is to improve care for these patients and at the same time improve care for all heart attack patients.

As a referring hospital for heart attack patients, Providence Newberg meets high standards of performance in quickly diagnosing such patients and transferring them to hospitals that provide artery-opening procedures as needed. Hospitals must adhere to these measures at a set level for a designated period of time to be eligible for the achievement awards.

Providence Health & Services in Oregon is a not-for-profit Catholic network of hospitals, care centers, health plans, physicians, clinics, home health care and affiliated services guided by a Mission of caring that the Sisters of Providence began in the West nearly 160 years ago.